Sports World: Pang into s-finals, Chew looking good

National paddler Koen Pang is through to the men's singles semi-finals of the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament after winning all his group matches in Doha yesterday.

He beat the Philippines' Jann Mari Nayre 11-9, 7-11, 12-10, 12-10, 8-11, 11-7 before defeating Indonesia's Rafanael Nikola Niman 11-6, 11-7, 11-7, 11-9 to top the three-man Group 1.

Teammate Clarence Chew opened with 4-1 wins over Filipino John Russel Misal and Thai Padasak Tanviriyavechakul and faces Indonesia's Deepash Bhagwani today. The top two players of Group 2 will make the semi-finals, with the champion qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics.

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Public can still book fields and indoor halls

The selected 53 chargeable fields (CFs) and 122 Indoor Sports Halls under the Dual-Use Scheme (DUS) will continue to remain open for public booking on Saturdays and Sundays from tomorrow. There will be no changes to the current operating hours of these facilities.

The public is reminded to abide by Sport Singapore's safe management measures.

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Laporta vows to get Messi to stay at Barca

BARCELONA • Barcelona chief Joan Laporta gave Lionel Messi a hug and then pledged to do everything in his power to convince the club's all-time top scorer to stay, after being officially sworn in for a second spell as the club's president on Wednesday.

Laporta's pitch to Messi - who he called "the best player in history" - came two days after the Argentinian equalled Xavi Hernandez as the club's highest appearance maker on 767 games, marking the occasion by scoring twice in a 4-1 rout of Huesca.

The 33-year-old's contract at the Nou Camp ends in the summer.

REUTERS

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Jiangsu pull out of Champions League

KUALA LUMPUR • China's Jiangsu FC have withdrawn from the Asian Champions League following their financial collapse, officials said yesterday, in another sign they are on the brink of being disbanded.

The side won the Chinese Super League for the first time in November, but ceased operations last month after their struggling owners pulled the plug.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE